A little of this…A little of that

Last years smash spring musical The Drowsy Chaperone is returning to Miami Palmetto Senior High November 8th & 9th. This show which originally debuted on Broadway in 2006 is surely not to be missed. From Bob Martin & Don McKellar, it’s a hysterical trip though Man in Chair’s mind as he listens to an album of his favorite show. You’ll laugh! You’ll cry! Okay maybe you won’t cry but I promise you, you will laugh!

Robin Barson, Palmetto’s Drama teacher decided to bring Drowsy back this fall after it was so popular last spring. Ms. Barson, the troupe and the Panther Parent Theater booster have been working tirelessly to assure a packed house for the November dates. The show stars Troupe 1298, featuring Ethan Rousso as Man in Chair, Shelby Wasserman as Drowsy, Katie Diez as Janet Van De Graff & Jake Zimmelman as Robert Martin.

Many of these hardworking kids have been acting together since sixth grade. Please come out and support Troupe 1298 and Miami Palmetto Senior High School, November 8th and 9th at 6:30. Tickets are only $5.00 and the show is suitable for all ages.

Hello and happy Saturday to all! As a lot of you know, I love my As Seen On TV products. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that I grew up in the era of Ronco and the Mr. Microphone or I’m just a sucker for an infomercial at 2 am. Whatever the case may be, I’ve decided that it’s something I should definitely write about. So, I’ve ordered some products and I’ll be letting you know what I think in the weeks ahead. Note to the people and dogs who live with me, none of you are safe from participating in my little experiment.

In reality TV this week, today marks day 23 of 1,460 of Trump’s presidency. Puts shit into perspective doesn’t it? If it weren’t our lives at stake, this would be the best damn reality show ever. It’s literally minute to minute with him.

Anyway, all of Bravo TV is new this week, and Tuesday’s episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills should be a good one. I can’t wait to see Kyle confront Lisa Rinna. I mean how many times is Rinna going to stir the pot and then find a way to blame someone else? I’m not a giant fan of Eden Sassoon but you know Rinna is going to throw her ass right under that bus. I think Kyle is pretty accurate in saying it’s time for Rinna to zip her lips.

I’m happy to see that many of you have come around regarding Summer House. I told you so! It’s like a Long Island Railroad wreck. I’m getting Southern Charm deja vu here remembering how many people hated it at first. How can a house full of drunk people not be fun to watch?

In actual TV, we just started watching The Detour on TBS. I know what you’re thinking. TBS, really? But yes really! Season two premieres February 21st but season one is available on demand now. We were literally crying with laughter.

I’ve just finished binging The Crown on Netflix. The show is based on Queen Elizabeth II and how the death of her father put her on the throne. Just beware because once you start watching, you won’t be able to stop.

A delightful weekend to all and be on the lookout for my As Seen on TV series.

When Sonja Morgan held a service for her beloved dog Millou, some Real Housewives of New York City fans sympathized, some snickered. In August, our beloved goldendoodle Isabella passed away and we were just devastated. For those of you ridiculed that RHONY episode, or are right now saying, “It’s just a dog”, clearly you’ve never loved a dog. Warning: this piece, by the way, may not be for you.

Izzi’s sickness started innocently enough. She threw up a couple of times and seemed lethargic. I thought maybe she ate something that didn’t agree with her, but soon she seemed to have very little appetite at all. Then I noticed something that scared the shit out of me; her eyes were yellow, so was her skin, and her gums. Jaundice, a sign of liver disease, is what I…

Well hello there, it’s been a while since I’ve taken pen to paper but I really felt like I must address this. Last night on The Real Housewives of New York, Sonja Morgan introduced us to her latest business venture, Proseco she calls, Tipsy Girl. This is wrong on quite a few levels, in my opinion. Not stating the obvious just yet, does Sonja really need to be involved in yet another business? Let us not forget the toaster oven that she did a photo shoot for, yet never got around to manufacturing an actual toaster. Hey, I guess she had some great pics for her scrapbook, but come on now. Next up for Lady Morgan was her fashion line, Sonja Morgan New York. I just checked out the website. Currently there are only a handful of items that haven’t been “sold out”. The least expensive item selling for $195.00. I don’t know about you but if I’m spending that much on a top, it’s not going to be from Sonja Morgan. In January, Miss Morgan, according to the NY Daily News announced she had plans to open a restaurant called Tipsy. She’s apparently hoping to get a show, ala LVP, out of it. Wait, there’s also Sonja in the City, a catering business. I checked out the website and quite frankly it seems to be another excuse for a photo shoot. If anyone out there has actually used Sonja to cater their party, please let me know.

So now it comes down to Tipsy Girl. For the love of god, how did she think Bethenny Frankel would not be pissed? In next weeks preview, we see our resident Skinnygirl telling Lady Morgan off. Bethenny tells her that Tipsy Girl is a cheater brand, she takes it as a personal insult and wants nothing to do with Sonja. According to the Daily News, Bethenny filed documents to block the name Tipsy Girl and attempted to register the name herself so Sonja couldn’t use it. Now clearly, she’s not worried about Sonja surpassing her, she just doesn’t want her riding Skinnygirl’s coattails.

Poor Sonja just can’t seem to get it together. I actually feel sorry for her. Especially in light of Ramona Singer spilling the tea last night on Watch What Happens Live. Wonder what happened between the former besties that prompted Ramona to speak so poorly of Sonja. Whatever it is, it’s certainly proving to be an interesting season. Stay tuned…

So I’m sure some of you have seen my Christmas pics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For those of you who don’t know me well, you’re probably wondering why the girl who was posting pics from her sons Bar Mitzvah six months ago is now posting pictures of a Christmas tree. Well, my husband is a Jewish New Yorker, as are his parents, who now live in Miami. My Mom and her family are Jews. Obviously I am, as are my children and my sister and her family. So why Christmas? Well, we celebrate it for someone who wasn’t Jewish and doesn’t attend anymore. That person, is my father. My dad passed away almost eleven years ago. He went into the hospital December 10, 2002 and didn’t leave there until a few days into 2003.

Let me give you a little back story here. Christmas was our thing, my dad and I. Every year we went, just us, to get the tree. We both had silly santa hats with our names on them, that my Papa Alex (also a jew!) bought for us when I was seven. Every Christmas Eve, we wore those hats while opening presents. We did the Eve in our house because my dad was Italian and that’s how his family always did it. Every year we ate deli, lots of corned beef and Pastrami and exchanged gifts. As “Head Elf” I would find a present, give it to him, he would read the tag and I would deliver it. I did it as a child, I did it as a rotten teenager, and I did it twice preggo, and always with my hat. For those of you who know me, you know I have a big head. I have no clue how that hat fit me all those years and still fits me to this day. It’s like the sisterhood of the traveling hat. Unbeknownst to me, the last Christmas we would all spend together was 2001, and I was seven months pregnant with Ethan. Now I don’t recall much, every Eve was similar, but there are two things that stick out in my mind. One was that he was laughing at how many tollhouse cookies I consumed in one sitting. The other was that he was looking down at this hand rubbing it, like it was hurting him. I remember feeling a little sense of doom right then. It just bothered me. An inkling of what was to come perhaps. It has stuck with me all these years, I can picture it clearly right now.

The next year, like I said, my dad entered the hospital and my mom was not up to having Christmas in her home. She was insistent, however, that we have it still and we all agreed. My dad was not conscious at that point, and he was the type who would’ve told us to get off our asses, cut the crap and just do it. Until that time, I had planned not to have a tree, we were raising our children Jewish. I figured we would just do Christmas at my parents’ house. By this time, we were all so spent from spending every second at the hospital, that we really needed this. I decided to host the holiday. My mom went out and bought a little fake tree, because by the time we decided to do it there were no trees left.

So began, our new tradition. The following year Darren, the kids and I went out and bought a tree. My mom passed over all the ornaments to me and we bought some of our own too. We had the whole family over and continued on, as my father would have wanted. Everything is basically the same, we still get deli, and it’s still a bunch of Jews sitting around celebrating. The adults all draw names now though and everyone gets something for the kids. The kids get for everyone, which is hysterical, as the presents prove to be very interesting. My father in law got a GIANT alarm clock from Ethan this year. I’m still cracking up about it.

So yes, things are different, but still very much the same. I have passed on the job of head elf to my kids. I now serve as “Santa”. I gave Max my original hat, and I glittered his name on the other side. I took my dad’s hat, put my name on it, the other side still reading Michael. It’s bittersweet for me every year but I adore sharing this same silliness with my kids. For us, Christmas doesn’t mean anything religious, but I respect those for whom it does. For us it’s about family getting together and having fun. Oh and lots of laughing, always tons of laughing in this house.

Tomorrow, for those of us in Miami-Dade county a magical thing is going to happen. It’s the first day of school! Now nobody loves the summer more than I do. Running around in bathing suits, going to the beach, vacationing, its the best. This summer was no exception. We had a fabulous trip to SoCal and did all of our favorite things there. The weather is so gorgeous in Cali, it should be illegal. For me to be able to run outdoors for three miles without stopping is a big thing. Those of you who workout with me know this to be the truth. I am not a fan of running, I only do it because I must. All that aside, we came back to paradise (?) to rain, lots of rain, millions of Mosquitos and ungodly hot temperatures.

Darren and I went to Atlantis in the Bahamas with our friends for a crazy weekend. That’s all I can say about that because if I reveal any details, I’ll have to kill you. I will tell you we learned to speak Klingon. Don’t ask, you’re better off not knowing.

My kids did their things, camp, swimming, hanging out with friends etc. It was all fun and games until camp ended. Dun dun dunnnnnn. People are constantly complaining about the cost of camp but honestly I spend way more money when they’re at home. My spawns, oops I mean offspring enjoy going out to lunch. I’m not talking Taco Bell here either. I’m talking real restaurants. Seventy-five dollars later and we’re off to bowling or a movie where I spend at least fifty dollars. No matter how many ridiculous school supplies and uniforms I have to buy for them, I save money when they’re at school. Now of course we had great times without spending a dime. We went in the pool. We took bike rides in a hundred degrees, we baked and cooked together, and we had a ball just watching movies and playing video games. Yes, me playing video games. Betcha didn’t see that one coming. At least those of you who don’t know me up close and personally.

So the end of our sleeping til nine and lazy summer days are almost over. It’s back to business tomorrow and that’s okay. As much as I loathe shopping for them, I love me some brand new school supplies and I love a new backpack. Tomorrow they start a new chapter. I’m back to three schools and it’s bittersweet as my first born begins, yikes, High School. It’s new teachers and friends and another year of activities. Back to carpool and pick up and drop off. My middle son becomes a Bar Mitzvah this year and so the planning begins. Busy busy busy but I wouldn’t trade it for a thing. It’s my job and honestly what I was born to do. Wishing everyone, whether it’s tomorrow or after Labor Day a wonderful 2014-2015 school year. xoxo

I’m a stay at home Mom by choice and by circumstance, and I consider myself lucky. I’ve been married to my attorney husband for almost fifteen years. We have three children, two boys; thirteen and eleven, and a girl who is seven. From a very young age all I ever wanted to be was a mommy. Well, also a fashion designer, veterinarian and movie star but those were just phases. Being a mom always remained consistent.

I had my first child at twenty-seven, and dove in. Needless to say it was a lot different from what I expected. I don’t care how much you’ve babysat, how many nieces and nephews you have, being a first time parent is a shock to the system. Luckily, I had an easy birth and I didn’t have postpartum depression. I also had an unbeliveably good baby who really wasn’t fussy and spent most…

Wow, can you believe the summer just flew by so fast? It seems like it was just the end of the school year and now here we are, back already. We’re buying uniforms and shiny new backpacks. Everyone, well at least us as parents, are excited for the new school year. Then, we get the dreaded school supply list. Now in years past, when all three of my kids were in elementary school or preschool, I could access the list online and get everything labeled and packed up before my little darlings set foot into school. My daughter’s school, Palmetto Elementary (go lions) makes it even easier for us. The PTA provides a school store, where you can buy the entire list for the grade level and pick it up, neatly packaged just for you, the week before school begins.

For my two boys, both in middle school this year, this isn’t the case. On the first day, each teacher presents them with a class syllabus which includes a list of supplies they’ll need. This is all fine and great but multiply it by two and you’ll want to take a gun to your head. Nevertheless I headed to my neighborhood Staples, armed with my lists. Now these days we are all about technology, so I decided to just take pictures of some of the lists. This way I won’t lose them. I’m particularly good at losing things, just ask my kids. My keys have been missing inside the house for three days. Thank goodness I didn’t lose the spare.

Anyway, I pull into Staples, greeted with a packed parking lot, having to walk at least a mile to get inside. Believe me this is nothing compared to the circles I was walking in once I actually entered the store. Now as I start shopping I see that of course, they are out of at least five of the things I need. Or I just cannot find them. Ask for help you say? There is no help, everyone is busy manning the registers for the thirty plus people in line. I know it’s a stretch, but how about having extra staff this week Staples?

So I see some people I know, doing the same thing as I am. Then it occurs to me, we are all walking in circles, like zombies ,or morons, pushing our carts, trying to find what we need with our hundreds of different lists. It is MINDNUMBING. I am a shopper, by nature, by DNA. Retail makes me happy. I have had pure euphoria in stores. Of course these stores usually have the words Saks Fifth Avenue in their names but whatever. I was literally shaking in Staples. Another thought hit me at the register. How in the hell do people who are on a tight budget buy all this crap? Just for one child alone it was over one hundred and thirty dollars. I don’t blame our fabulous teachers. They need this stuff and Miami-Dade county certainly isn’t giving them the money to buy anything extra for their classes. I know plenty of teachers who have to spend tons of their own money just to make their classrooms what they need to be.

Wish me luck, I’m back at the store today for my oldest son. If you don’t hear from me, check Office Depot…

I’m sure by now we’ve all seen the above post asking kids not to bully. I couldn’t agree more with this, which of course, got me thinking. My boys are middle schoolers now, one entering his last year and one just beginning. I like to think I’ve raised them well so far, and that they know to always do the “right” thing in regards to how they treat others. My daughter is just six and going into first grade. With girls, its so different. I’m fortunate to have an outgoing, kind, confident little girl. Girls can be mean though and even the most secure girls still get their feelings hurt. I do remind her often, to always be nice. I tell her that she may not like everyone, but unless someone is mean to her, she should just be nice. I tell her that if she has something not so nice to say about someone that she can just vent to me. She’s not instinctively a “mean girl” thank goodness.

All that being said, I feel like we as moms could take a little lesson from this. How many times have we as women walked into a new situation, and been shunned? Whether its been at your kids school, a temple, a church, whatever, it’s happened to us all and we’ve all done it to someone.

Why? Aren’t we as grown women supposed to know better? Middle school has already come and gone for us. A lot of us though, myself included, still play the mean girl on occasion. We are all cliquey with our friends, not necessarily being welcoming of someone new to the scene. How, my friends, will our kids learn to be nice if we are not showing them that we are nice? I know, that’s a mouthful but it’s true. They learn by example.

So, here’s my version of that post:

Request to all the moms returning to school in August. If you see someone who is clearly new to the situation, who may not look great, who may not be the type you’d usually befriend, stop yourself from being bitchy or aloof. Say hi, smile at them, invite them for coffee. Be inclusive. Your kindness could make a big difference in their life, your life and the example you’re setting for your child.